


Is This Home?

by Khyolite



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, M/M, WTF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 23:51:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5721715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khyolite/pseuds/Khyolite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carla & Grisha have split, leaving Carla no choice but to take Eren and move out of the house that she's lived in since before Eren was born. Eren has a slightly hard time accepting the new house as his home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting a chaptered fanfiction *nervously sweats*. I normally do one shots but I wanted to try a slow build. Be prepared for run-on sentences, awkwardly different sized chapters, improper punctuation and such, and I apologize in advance ;-;

"Mom noooo."

"Eren yesss."

I've tried many times to sway her decision but I knew it was no use when she sprung the 'good news" onto me anyway.

I was currently in the passenger seat of my mom's 2015 Nissan Titan -whom she called 'Smiley' and enthusiastically got personalized plates that read 'Sm1l3r'- while my best friend sat in the back seat quietly as she watched the world go by. In the bed of the truck sat the last of our belongings from our old home. I grew up for 16 years in that house and now I'm leaving? I was damn near birthed in the downstairs toilet. That house was all I've ever known, until dad started getting distant. It wasn't home anymore, it was divided and we all know Lincoln's famous words. So one thing led after another, divorce, arguing, alcohol, all the cliche shit.

I sighed as we pulled into the driveway of our new, cozy, tri-level bungalow. As the car slowed to a stop, I got out and instantly opened the rear car door. "Come on Kasa," I say as I turn, not waiting to see if she would follow me only because I knew she would. As I reach the front door, I pull out a single key from my pocket. Like hell it was going on my lanyard with my other (totally not nerdy) things.

Pushing the key into the slot and giving a firm counter-clockwise twist, I push the door open and allow Mikasa to enter first. Who said chivalry was dead? I follow in behind her and head straight to the kitchen as I open the refrigerator and pull out a caprisun. I'm a child, I know.

"Hey Eren, you can go on to your room and begin to set everything up. I can handle the rest on Smiley."

I turn at the sound of her voice and mentally roll my eyes as I watch my mother obviously struggling to hold the giant lamp in her arms.

I quickly suck my juice pouch dry and toss it in the waste bin as I approach her. "Mom, let me help," I don't give her a choice as I take the lamp from her and make my way to the living room.

The layout of the house was nice. Once you walk in, there's a small closet to your right and a short hallway leading to open space. If you look right, the living room is there and the only carpeted area downstairs while the rest is linoleum. If you look left, there's the kitchen with an island placed in the center. If you continue walking straight, the staircase is off to your right and it curves left slightly until it meets the second level and makes a harsh left, creating an overlook of downstairs. Behind the staircase is another open room which my mom dubbed the dining room. There were literally no doors downstairs unless they led outside. Speaking of such, to the right, directly behind the staircase, was a door. It led to the backyard which was a flat expanse of grass and four trees. Two of the trees we're relativity close to one another but a good 14 second walk away from the door. Another tree was placed directly in the center of the yard and it was huge with a short, thick trunck and low hanging branches. 'A good climbing tree' I thought as I eyed it for possible footholds. The fourth tree was the smallest. It sat outside my window, it's brilliant yellow leaves standing out proudly. The upturned earth around it giving away that it hadn't come with the house, no; it came with us. 

That was my tree, it's distinctive leaves falling off as autumn rolled in. It was just a sapling when I was born and each year on my birthday, a leaf was plucked and added to a photo album. I liked my tree. Anyway! If you were to come back in, there's a door on the opposite wall that led to the one car garage. If you were to ascend the stairs, the first door you would be greeted with would be the bathroom. Turn right down a short hallway and at the end would be the master bedroom, my mom's room. Turn left, walking across the overlook, and the first door on your right would be the linen closet, second door, my room. So I didn't dislike the house, it was just all new for me.

I set the lamp down on an end table and looked around the living room. I can officially say that moving sucks.

"Get that look off of your face hun, we don't have to do any rearranging today. Just be glad we finally moved everything!"

I definitely had to agree with her on that. Everything wasn't positioned correctly but everything was in it's proper room.

My mom approaches me and kisses my forehead. "Why don't you and Mikasa go for a walk huh? Get to know the layout of the neighborhood a bit?"

That sounded like a fantastic idea, so I nod. "Alright. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go try out my new jet tub." And with that, she turns and goes upstairs.

"No bragging!" I shout as she reaches the top and she responds with a laugh.

Even though I was totally against moving, I demanded to have the master bedroom simply because it had a jet tub but of course mom got it.

I trot upstairs and into the bathroom -my bathroom- and take in my appearance.

Messy hair, check.

Should I comb it? Rather not.

Thick glasses, check.

Should I put in my contacts? Rather not.

Wrinkled R2-D2 shirt, check.

Should I change it? Rather not.

I grin as I look at my shirt, then look back at my reflection.

Braces, check.

All ready to go.

I trot back downstairs, not even having to call for Mikasa since she was always tailing me. I open the front door and step outside, glancing around briefly before making a decision and starting off going to my left. I have Beyonce to thank for that choice.

I walk for a while, Mikasa at my side as we stroll through the unfamiliar neighborhood. Many older people seem to be out, raking any leaves or pine cones that have fallen and most wave as they see me. I wave back, giving a great smile as Mikasa simply ignores them in favor of making sure her pace matches mine.

After thirty minutes of walking, I glance up at a street sign and notice my house should be approaching soon. Not soon enough though, unfortunately, as I hear a shout.

"Jean no! Get back here!!"

My head turns just in time to see a blur of black and tan as it lunges at Mikasa.

"No!" I shout as my foot instinctively kicks out, nailing the dog in the ribs as it stumbles back.

"Hey! What's your issue?!"

I search for the voice as my head whips to the side and I see a blur of gold. My foot is ready to cock back again until I notice that this time, it's a boy.

He runs to the dog who was rearing up for another lunge at Mikasa before grabbing it's thick, black leather collar and yanking the animal back. Mikasa hasn't moved an inch and is still beside me when I glance to her, red scarf neatly tied around her neck with an end hanging a few centimeters down. I look back to the boy who now has the dog leashed and standing at his side but it's whining and whimpering, paws moving restlessly as it's large ears pin against it's head.

"What's your issue?!" I'm asked again by the golden haired boy, cerulean eyes ablaze with anger.

I'm a bit taken aback, because what I did was self-defense. Sure, I didn't wanna kick the dog, but he was after Kasa.

"Your dog literally lunged at her!" I shout, gesturing to Mikasa who looks bored with this whole situation. Dark eyes looking elsewhere across the street. "Did you think I was gonna let it?!"

The boy deflates a bit, the fire in his eyes dimming out and turning into guilt. "You didn't have to kick him. He's harmless." He states rather strongly despite his posture.

"It's not like I wanted to, I was scared. I'm sorry, I'd never hurt an animal." I frown, looking down at the dog the boy was holding, still restlessly moving and whimpering.

"No, I'm sorry for shouting at you. I just got upset at seeing him get kicked so hard." The golden haired boy looks down at his restless animal and smiles softly, reaching down to pet his head which instantly calms the dog as he sits and leans into he touch. He's still leaning... He's still l- whelp there he goes, he fell over.

The action makes me smile as I watch the dog wriggle around on it's back.

"I've never seen such a goofy shepherd." I state as I chuckle.

The dog's actions get the boy to laugh as he looks up at me. "Um, I'm Armin. I've never seen you around here before."

I look up at the boy, Armin. "My names Eren, and this is Mikasa. We moved in literally today at 331 Shiganshina Lane."

Armin lights up at this. "So you'll be attending Maria High?"

I have to think a bit, but slowly nod. "Yeah, that's the school."

"I go there, it'd be awesome to have a new friend who lives close by."

I glance to my right at the white house with blue shutters then back to Armin.

"I suppose." I say with a light shrug and a smile.

Armin opens his mouth to say something but his front door opens and an elderly man peeks out.

"Have you caught him?"

Armin looks towards his house and nods, stepping away from his still-flailing dog.

"Also ran into someone new! This is Eren, he lives in Mrs.Jackies old house," He turns to me. "That's my grandpa, Mr.Arlert."

I politely nod my head and smile towards his grandfather. "Hello Mr.Arlert."

"Hello to you also Eren, and welcome to the neighborhood. I hope you don't mind me stealing Armin from you, but we need to finish painting."

Armin frowns at this but quickly smiles again and turns to me. "You can come by any time, hopefully I'll catch you again before school starts."

I nod at him as he literally begins dragging his dog back towards his front door.

"Hey, what's you Shepherds name again?"

Armin glances over his shoulder and smiles. "Jean."

I nod chuckle a bit as Jean has no protests about being dragged. Before I can respond though, Armin was speaking again.

"I meant to compliment you on Mikasa's behavior. Did you train her yourself??"

I rub the back of my neck as I chuckle some, pushing my glasses but up my nose. "Yeah. She was pretty obedient when she was a puppy though."

"Hopefully she can tame my crazy canine someday," He's at his door now and Jean rises to his paws, shakes, then enters the house as Armin lets his leash go. "Oh yeah, awesome shirt by the way!"

I thank him as he waves and disappears inside. Glancing down at Mikasa, I smile and begin walking to the new house- it definitely wasn't home yet, but it could be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doubt I'll be tossing out chapters in a timely fashion, so they'll be up as soon as I finish editing them.  
> Going to add tags as the story progresses and fiddle with stuff a bit. Still learning how to use the site since I only ever read other works off my phone.

When I got back home, mom was cooking and in a bathrobe. I had to admit that she seemed more content with herself after dad left, she always had a soft smile now instead of a forced one.

I walked in and leaned against the island in the middle of the floor. "Whatcha making?"

"Eintopf. We need to officially go shopping later in the night."

I smile, nodding even though she couldn't see me. She had her hair pulled up into a bun as loose strands framed her face and her voice was just lighter, like she was becoming herself.

  
She glanced back at me only to smirk and raise a mischievous eyebrow. "What?"

Chuckling, I shake my head. "Kasa and I sorta made a friend a couple minutes ago."

A this, she covers the pot and turns to face me. "That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, his name is Armin and he lives with his grandpa about a block down. His dog tried to attack Kasa and I kicked him in the ribs. After th-"

"Eren! You cannot go around kicking animals!" She chastised

Frowning, I shrug. "I thought it was going to attack Kasa, or shoot, even myself. It moved so fast. Well, his name his Jean and he's some sort of shepherd. Not a German one though, he looked more streamline with less fur," I pause to worry at my lip as I think. "He honestly looks like a horse. I'll have to ask when I see Armin again."

"We should bake some apfelstrudel for he and his grandfather. I think that would be nice." She turns back towards the pot and begins to stir.

"They're busy painting or something."

"I'm sure they would appreciate a snack even more then."

"We don't even have ingredients to bake th-"

"Then we'll go to the market earlier, after lunch."

Huffing, I push my glasses to my head, which pushes my bangs out of my eyes as I use my glasses as a sort of headband. Glancing around at my now-foggy surroundings. My eyesight wasn't terrible, it just made everything look like I was crying or looking through a frosted shower door. Which is terrible. If I cry or look through anything foggy I dub myself as blind. I look over to the pile of things in a corner of the kitchen then begin placing the bar stools by the island. After that, I open up boxes and begin to put dishes away with mom's guidance of course. I leave two bowls on the island and dig into another box looking for utensils, after I find them, I place a spoon in each bowl the search for a drawer to put the remaining spoons, forks and knives in. Once I find a suitable place near the sink, I go and sit on a bar stool.

"Hey, can Mikasa have some?"

"She can have any excess broth."

"Mmkay."

She brings the pot over and spoons out equal servings for both of us, making sure to leave enough broth to drizzle over Mikasa's next meal. She sits beside me as we both begin to eat and discuss and plans or places they wanted to explore. After we finish, I take up the dishes and begin to wash them as my mom excuses herself upstairs to change into actual clothes.

Flicking my hands dry, I search around the living room until I find Mikasa's bin of dog food and her other items. I grab her large bowl and scoop some food into it before retreating back to the kitchen to pour the broth over it. Walking back to the living room, I set her bowl down in a corner while turning to look for her; only to find her seated a few feet away with her dark chocolate eyes locked onto my face and ears alert on her head.

Smiling, I take a few steps back. "Come on and eat."

She stands and pads over before digging into her meal, taking her time to thoroughly chew her food. Out of frustration more than anything else, I begin to rearrange the living room. I push the couch to the center and begin to push the television between the two front windows. Thank whomever that our TV has wheels. I plug it up then begin to search through the boxes to locate and set up the cable, DVD player and VHS player then the Wii. Searching a bit more, I find the coffee table and it's legs along with a bag of screws but before I can start, I'm being called to go.

I leave my project and start for the door hearing Mikasa's soft paw pads behind me. My mom smiles, in her tan knitted sweater and matching boots, then turns and starts out the door. I follow to the car and open the back door for Mikasa to jump in then take my spot in the passenger seat. I place my glasses back onto my face properly and my mom talks to her navigation system, searching for the nearest Kroger's.

Once we get there, we roll the front windows down about three inches then exit the car, leaving Mikasa in the backseat. I glance back in enough time to see her lay down and wait for our   
return, only to look forward again and crash into my mother who stumbles slightly then looks back at me with a scolding glint in her eye.

"You do that every time we leave the car."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry." I chuckle out as I fall in place beside her and enter the super market.

After about an hour, we're standing in line ready to check out and my mom turns to me.

"We forgot the apples."

"I'll get them." Instantly volunteering as I turn and walk back to the fruit section.

I get about three apples in the bag when I hear "Hey, cool shirt!"

"I turn to the source of the voice and taken in the person in front of me. Was I looking at a boy or a girl?

"The name's Hanji"

Well shit, that doesn't help. "I'm Eren, nice to meet you."

Hanji comes a little closer, tilting their head down and peering at me over their glasses. "I've never seen you around here before. New?"

"Yeah, like today new."

"Awesome! You're gonna love it here. Pretty chill county... city or whatever."

I take the time to briefly analyze the being in front of me as they begin to word vomit.

Dreads, with the roots growing out pretty straight. They weren't those stiff I-don't-wash-my-hair dreads, but nice ones that fell naturally. They were pulled up into a pony tail with a few straight, natural pieces framing Hanji's face. A tattoo on the left forearm of a dream catcher and round glasses almost similar to my own, perched on the bridge of Hanji's nose. Skinny jeans -not skin tight, actually rather loose considering- dark grey combat boots which were folded down and a Millennium Falcon long-sleeved shirt. Sleeves pushed to the elbows.

Ah, Star Wars.

"-eaning section."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Hanji smiles, obviously unaffected at my not-so-subtle analyzation and also not listening. "I said I came with a friend but I lost him after I went to look for a new slinky and that he's probably in the cleaning section."

"Oh, well I've gotta get back to my mom anyway," I place two more apples in the bag and tie it off as I return Hanji's smile. "Nice meeting you."

I turn and walk away, hearing Hanji literally screech "goodbye" then and irritated new voice "Shut the fuck up you fucking ape."

Glancing back, my eyes fall on the short male now standing by Hanji with a broom in his grasp. I find myself stopping and staring, also analyzing him and taking in his undercut. My eyes catch onto a silver bar through the top of his left ear then the leather jacket which was left open and showing off a tight fitting dark grey v-neck. Venturing lower, I examine his belt -which looks like there are Batman symbols on it- through the loops of his black slim fit jeans. Getting to his feet, I'm greeted by another pair of combat boots that- _what? Are they coming towards me??_

I quickly snap my eyes up and they lock onto piercing, silver orbs ablaze with annoyance. The sheer authority they hold has me stumbling back, my mouth opening to apologize for staring but no words coming out.

"Can I help you??"

"I- I'm s-"

"Is there something on my face kid??"

"No! I was jus-"

"Then fuck off."

With audio, my mouth snaps shut as I nod- ready to turn away. Although a certain someone obviously didn't want that.

"Come on now Levi! He just moved here, this is Eren! Eren, this is Levi."

As Hanji began speaking, Levi and I looked towards them. When they finished, we looked back at each other.

Levi still looks irritated and had his lips pressed in a firm line so I dip my head, "Sorry for staring." and turned, walking back to my mother who was impatiently waiting as I handed her the apples. She didn't question it though and simply paid then we began exiting the store. We packed most of the food in the bed of the truck while the more delicate items were stored in the backseat alongside Mikasa who's tail was creating a rhythmic thump against the seat. Closing the door and slipping into the passenger seat, I open the glove box and pull out a bag which only makes Mikasa's tail thump harder. A quick glance back reveals a sitting pup, eyes trained on the pup-peroni treat as it exits the bag and ears sitting high on her head.

"You're such a good girl Kasa." I toss the treat and she effortlessly catches it.

The drive is silent aside from the music playing softly through the speakers. Once at the house, mom and I bring in the groceries and I begin to unbag everything.

"Leave out the a-"

"I know mom, you still wanna bake goodies for the Arlerts."

Mom just smiles and continues to put all the groceries in the fridge or freezer while I put away things that belong in the cupboard or in cabinets.

After maybe, 15 minutes, all the food is put away and mom begins to prepare the apfelstrudel. The smell hits me in a wave of nostalgia and automatically brings a bright grin to my face.

"Go wash up young man, after you get out we can watch a movie."

"Tim Burton?"

She hums softly to herself. "Fine, which are you thinking?"

"The one we haven't seen yet. Frakenweenie."

"Alright. Sounds like a good movie for the new house."

I nod as she begins to roll out dough, turning and heading upstairs.

If mom is baking again, this could definitely be home.  _In due time._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel as though I need to explain a bit on why some characters are dogs.  
> Unfortunately, I don't have much of an explanation other than it just came to me. It was only supposed to be Mikasa because I wasn't grasping her personality and I didn't want her to be too ooc. After I played around with it a bit, I began to really enjoy it and it kind of shot off from there. Any characters that appear as animals have a unique personality that my amateur writing skills cannot properly grasp.

Once out of the shower and in fresh clothes, I trot downstairs and quite literally drool at the aroma coming from the oven. As I go to inspect it, mom calls out from the living room.

"Don't you open that, the temperature will get uneven. They should be done in about 45 minutes, so come and sit. I've got the movie up."

Whining while throwing a mini tantrum, I drag my feet to the living room and plop down on the couch beside my mom and Mikasa joins shortly after.

The 45 minutes fly by. The timer blares, startling me as mom simply gets up and goes into the kitchen. Pushing Mikasa's head off of my lap gently and pausing the movie, I leap up and tail after my mom who has now opened the oven and oh my gosh the nostalgia is enough to make me cry.

Mom sets the tray on the stove top and I inch closer to just to watch the steam rise and certian pastries ooze the apple filling.

"They've got to cool, then I'll decorate them and add a bit of toppings."

"Can I have one? I wont burn myself."

"No Eren. Let's go watch a bit m-"

"Please! Can I have the small one in the corner? Look, the dough even split a little."

"Whatever Eren." With a dismissive wave, mom walks back into the living room and sits back on the couch, stroking Mikasa's head.

"Thank you mom!" And without a second thought, I grab for the pastry only to have the dough split even more and scalding hot apple filling ooze all over my fingers. "Fucking hell!"

"Language! Honestly Eren you do this _all the time_. Why haven't you learned by now that hot means hot!"

"I'm hungry!"

"You're not! You're a glutton!"

Mom is back by my side now (Along with Mikasa who was there as soon as I shouted) and grabbing my wrist, forcing my hand under the faucet and turning on the cold water. Her thumbs gently massage the now cooling filling off of my skin and she just shakes her head at me.

Pouting, I mumble an apology for cursing and she simply shakes her head again before turning off the water. "One of these days you'll learn." She then smiles at me before planting a kiss on my forehead. "Can we please go finish watching this odd little girl read her cat's poop?"

One nod and we're headed back to the living room to settle and continue watching TV.

After about 20 minutes, we're up again and going to put the finishing touches on the pastries. Well mom is, I was banned from coming within five feet of the yum yum treats.

I sit at the island in the center watching her as my toes rub against Mikasa's head and I sigh loudly.

"Stop sulking, I'll leave one for you."

"It's not that mom," I mumble as I rest my head against my hand. "I just miss our home. I understand why we left and all but tha-"

"It's all you've ever known, I know. Yet, you've already made an acquaintance and I hope it on grows from there." She turns to face me, all the pastries except for one on an elegant plate and placed in an organized pattern, covered with plastic wrap and tied down with a deep green ribbon. "Now, lets get properly introduced to the Albert's."

"The _Arlert's_  mom. Arlert's." I get up and immediately grab the pastry that was left on the tray, biting into it and savoring the flavor. After slipping on our shoes, we step into the nice autumn air and begin our short trek to meet our down-the-street neighbors.

With Mikasa on my right and my mom on my left, we stop in front of the white door and I knock three times.

Barking. Immediate barking.

Followed by shouting.

"Shut up Jean! Sheesh, stop!"

The door opens then, revealing a paint spattered Armin and a huge smile.

"Hey! You came back, hi Eren!" He then looks to my mom, smile still on his face, albeit a little more tame and polite. "You must be Eren's mom. Hello, I'm Armin."

Just as my mom is about to respond, Jean shoves past Armin's legs and lunges at Mikasa again. This time, I just allow Jean to learn the hard way as he's quickly pinned by a snarling and snapping Mikasa. Once Jean gets the message, she lets him up as his tail quickly tucks and he darts back into the house; Mikasa taking her place by my side again.

My mom totally ignores it. "Hello Armin, I'm Carla Jeager."

Armin, still shocked by the short and quick dominance Mikasa showed, blinks slowly before looking back at my mom. "Well, Mrs.J-"

"Just Ms. will do."

"-Ms.Jeager, come on inside, my grandpa would love to meet you and those treats look absolutely delicious."

Armin steps to the side and allows us to walk in. It smells like fresh paint but that's to be expected. All the windows are open and Armin follows behind us, leaving the front door open now.

"Grandpa! We have guests!"

An elderly man steps in through the backyard's sliding glass door. He had a very youthful face and dark brown hair with light brown eyes. A beard with white paint spattered in it and a mustache that was surprisingly free of paint. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled in the corners and he removed his hat as he approched my mom.

Armin spoke up. "This is Ms.Carla Jeager, and her son Eren. The one I told you had a very obedient German Shepherd, Mikasa," He gestured to each of us as we were introduced and politely held his hands out for the platter of treats. Once he had them securely in his hands, he nodded to his grandpa. "And this is my grandfather Mr.Arlert."

Mr.Arlet took my mother's hand and placed a chaste kiss against the back of it, enclosing her hand in both of his. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Releasing her hand, he turned to me and held his hand out which I took and shook as firmly as I could. "You also." His kind eyes then lowered, locking with Mikasa's who was sitting at my side. He released my hand as he crouched down and held his hand out for Mikasa to smell before giving her head a gentle pat. "And hello to you Mikasa."

Placing his hands on his knees, he pushed himself up. "Come sit, make yourselves comfortable." He led us to the living room which had a couch and an arm chair. Mr.Arlert took the arm chair while I followed my mom to the couch and sat. Armin sat the treats on the center table and opened them, instantly grabbing two and walking away.

"Hey Eren, wanna come up to my room?"

I looked to my mom then Mr.Arlert who only chuckled. "It's alright, we won't keep you to listen to 'old people talk' so go on ahead."

Smiling, I also snag two apple strudels and hop up, following Armin up the stairs and to his room which was honestly larger than I expected.

Armin plopped down on a bean bag chair and pointed to his closet. "There's another in there way in the back. Go ahead and grab it."

"What if I wanted to sit on the floor?" I was already headed towards the closet.

"Go ahead and sit on the floor then. Don't tell me you're sassy."

"Deferny ssy" I emerge from the closet with the beanbag and a mouthful of sweet treat.

Rolling his eyes and chuckling, he turns on his tv. "Video games? Movie? Whatcha wanna do?"

"What kind of console?" I toss the beanbag near Armin and plop down in it as I swallow down the last bit of food.

"All of them? They're just not all hooked up. The PS4 and Atari are hooked up."

"Oh wow, what? You've got an Atari??"

"Uh-huh, I take it you wanna play that?"

"Only if you've got 'Frogs and Flies',"

"I definitely have 'Frogs and Flies'. Prepare for battle!" He punctuated that statement by taking a colossal bite of the strudel and began to get the game started.

As I was reaching for my second pastry, a furry head knocked my hand out of the way and suddenly my pastry was gone. My head whipped to the side as I watched Jean try to scurry out the room.

"Hey!" I leapt up and hurled myself towards him, grabbing him by the tail which in turn made him drop the pastry to turn and attempt to bite me. Just in time, I snatched my hand back and instinctively popped him on the nose. "No." My voice was stern enough to even have Jean pause, as if he wasn't sure to disobey or not. He settled for baring his teeth at me before running off and I picked up my pastry with teeth marks in it as I sat back in the beanbag.

"Please tell me you're not gonna eat t-. I can not believe you just ate that."

I shrugged as I was passed a joystick controller. "I would share my food with Mikasa when she was a puppy." As the words left my mouth, I looked around for her a bit confused that she wasn't by my side. I knew she wasn't with my mom so I continued to look around the room until I looked to Armin's neatly made bed. Mikasa was laying on it, paws hanging off the edge as her head rested between them and dark eyes watching me lazily. I smiled at her which got me an ear flick in response then turned back to the television only to see I had lost.

"What? Hey!"

"You snooze you lose." Armin taunted as a new game was prepared.

Armin and I played games for hours, switching consoles when we got bored or wanted to test the others ability. During that time we talked and got to know each other better, a lot better. Only when Mikasa came to whine by my side did I realize how dark it was outside.

"Oh wow, shit, how long have I been here?" Standing took effort and my spine popped as I stretched. ' _Too long_ ' I thought.

Armin stands and stretches too. "Wanna take a walk? Just down the street to Bruster's, the lady that works there is crazy but she's super nice and always makes Jean a biscuit sundae."

"I'd love to but I would have to go home to get my wallet." Another whine from Mikasa.

"No worries, I'll pay." And with that, Armin was walking out of his room and with no other option, I follow.

Once downstairs, I notice my mom is gone and Mr.Arlert is passed out in his armchair. Padding softly to the back door, I slide it open and allow Mikasa out to do her business while Armin grabs a nice leather leash off the hook by the door. Jean comes out of nowhere and sits expectanly at Armins feet with his ears perked and tail wagging furiously. Once Jean is hooked to his leash, Mikasa comes back inside and takes up place beside me.

"Lets go!" Armin whisper-shouts as we head to the front door and once we're out, I take a deep breath, smiling into the gentle breeze.

We walk in silence, until I glance back for the umpteenth time. "Is he not fixed?"

Armin looks up at me with a frown. "He is. I dunno why he's marking his territory as if anyone would be intimidated by his lack of testosterone."

We both laugh at that and continue our walk, Armin now denying Jean the privilege to mark every vertical surface we passed. Once the glow of the ice cream shop is visible, Jean perks up and begins to slightly drag Armin to get there faster. By the time I get there, Armin is already ordering and looks over at me. "Choose whatever you want."

Just as I get beside him, a face is thrust into my own, causing me to jump back some and Mikasa to raise her hackles.

"HEY!! IT'S YOU!!"

I wince at the sheer volume of that enthusiastic voice and cup a hand to my ear.

Armin looks back and forth. "You two know each other?"

As I shake my head, I notice Hanji nodding theirs. Armin only cocks an eyebrow but says nothing else.

"What'll it be Eren??" Hanji asks with a shit-eating grin.

"Uhh, anything with chocolate. Actually that fudge brownie ice-cream combo thing looks amazing."

"Coming right up!" Hanji turns and disappears from the window.

Jean pushes up on his hind legs, paws on the counter as he peers through the window and Armin pats his head as I scan the small outdoor sitting area. We had walked up from the back and now that we were at the front, I notice how close we are to the main road and other small stores.

"One banana split, one fudge brownie combo, and two biscuit batches!"

Looking down at the counter, I being eyeing the 'biscuit batch' and am about to refuse when Hanji speaks up.

"Don't worry, everything is edible. The waffle cone bowl is made for vegans, the 'ice cream' is actually frosty paws peanut butter flavored frozen dog treat, the 'jimmies' are also vegan and the crumbs on top are milk bones!"

Eyeing it still, I watch out of the corner of my eye as Armin pays then grabs his and Jean's ice cream then goes to sit at a table. He sets the 'biscuit batch' on the ground and Jean literally eats it in two bites then sits and begs for Armin's. Shrugging, I grab mine and Mikasa's frozen treats then go and sit beside Armin. I set hers down and watch as she cautiously sniffs at it before taking a lick and eventually taking a bite out of the ice cream but she takes her time to chew it and swipes her tongue over her nose before going in for some more.

"Hey, Armin..."

"Hm?" He turns to me, wide baby blue eyes locked onto my wide viridian green ones.

"Is.. is Hanji a female?"

He laughs at this and covers his mouth with a hand to hush the sounds. Once his giggle fit is over, he clears his throat. "Hanji is a girl, yes. Though if you happen to use male pronouns she won't correct you. I don't think she minds, she's kinda genderfluid I guess? She gets off in a few so I'm happy I caught her, the next shift goes to Hitch and she's really nobodies favortie. She closes up shop but would still take our order if we got here in enough time."

I nod at this and take a a spoonful of my ice cream, shoving it into my mouth and closing my eyes at the amazing flavor. We sit and chat some more until car lights fall on us and both our heads turn as the lights turn off.

"That's a nice car, holy shit." I offhandedly comment.

Armin finishes his sundae and clears his throat. "I believe that's Levi." Out steps said person. "Yep, that's Levi."

Levi walks by, letting his eyes fall on Armin and giving him a brief nod before looking at me. He stops and stares before his eyes drift down and he then stares at Mikasa who in turn allows a low rumbling growl to escape her throat. I look down at her shocked. She never growls at anyone unless provoked, so I tap her head and she immidieatly stops, but Levi is still staring at her. The growling starts up again and this time I look up at Levi.

"Uhh, maybe you should... I dunno, stop fucking staring at my dog? You're making her uncomfortable for whatever reason."

Levi's heavily lidded eyes blink slowly before he's raising them to look at me. I'm suddenly pinned down by the intensity of his gaze. Gunmetal grey just boring into my soul and I watch as his eyes flit across my face before he's turning and walking up to the counter. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding right as an enthusastic Hanji greets her stoic ass friend.

"That was intense.." The murmur came from Armin who was now wiping his face with a napkin.

"Tell me about it. The hell is his problem? I ran into him at the grocery store and he got really upset really fast. Wielding a broom! How the hell does he own that car?? He's like... 15"

"I'm 18 and I own that piece of shit because I can afford it."

Both Armin and I whip our heads around to see Levi standing a few paces behind us, lollipop resting in his left cheek as his eyes look lazily between us. He nods downwards, switching out the lollipop to his right cheek. "What's your dog's name?"

My eyes narrow as I answer. "Mikasa, why?"

"Just asking, brat, calm the hell down. She's a nice looking dog."

"Thank you." Is my curt response and I think I see amusement flash in Levi's otherwise bored eyes.

"Wanna meet Annie?"

"You brought Annie??" Is Armin's excited question to Levi's question.

"No shit coconut." He then walks away to his car and opens the passenger side door. Out comes the most beautiful Pit Bull I had ever seen. She was blonde with white paws and a splash of white on her chest. Ears cropped, yet not too low but gave her that show dog look as well as her eyes. Ice blue eyes, held in a lazy fashion much like her owner and a choke chain hanging around her neck with a pendant hanging off the outside loop.

Levi walked back over, Annie at his side, and once he stopped walking, she sat.

Glancing to Mikasa, who is also sitting, I notice her actually taking interest in Annie. While before with Jean, she totally ignore his presence, yet with Annie, her ears were high on her head as her gaze never faltered from the other canine.

"Holy shit, she's beautiful."

Levi hums a response as Hanji comes to join us. She's got a bag slung over her shoulder and another one of those ice cream dog treat hings, setting it down for Annie whom is too occupied sizing up Mikasa.

We all sit and chat. By that, I mean Levi sat at a different table on his phone with Annie by his side and Hanji chatting to Armin about nucleic acids or some shit.

Soon enough, another car pulls up and out steps a girl. Just by her presence I can tell she's fucking prissy as all hell. She bypasses us all in favor of plopping down beside Levi, obviously too close for his liking as he slides away before her ass even hit the seat.

"Hi Levi~"

"You're fucking late." Is all he says as he stands and pockets his phone. "Come on Hanji, I'm hungry as shit." Stretching his arms above his head, he steps over the bench and begins walking back to his car, opening the passenger side for Annie before walking around and getting into the driver side.

I turn to Hanji and tap the table to gain her attention. "Do you sit in the backseat?"

"Yup! Annie always rides shotgun. The passenger seat has a cover on it so her paws don't ruin anything."

"Oh alr-"

"Who the hell are you?"

Armin lets out an exasperated sigh as Hanji just beams at the girl who had wandered over, answering her question.

"This is Eren. Eren, this is Hitch."

I look up at the girl as she noisily chews her gum. "Hitch? As in the movie with Will Smith and Paul Blart?"

"His name is Kevin James, Eren" Armin mumbles as Hitch glares daggers through my skull. She turns with a huff and goes to close up the shop.

Armin stands, his hand wound tightly in Jean's leash as he pulls the dog close. He dusts any crumbs off himself before looking to Hanji. "Alrighty then, we may pay you a visit again sometime soon."

Hanji just beams at that and it's a wonder how her face doesn't split in half. "That sounds great!" Her attention is briefly taken when the challenger hellcat purrs to life as it's lights flick on. "Eh, Grumpy will be just that if I make him wait any longer. See ya guys."

"Later."

"Bye!" Armin and I speak at the same time while we watch Hanji disappear into the car. It reverses slowly, the with a quick rev, it's gone and out onto the main road.

Standing and yawning, I rub Mikasa's head then fall in pace with Armin -who's taking deliberate slow steps until I catch up- as we head back to our neighborhood.

The walk is silent, but not uncomforatble which I can appreciate.

Arriving at Armin's house, Kasa and I wait on the sidewalk until said boy disappears inside with 'hope to see you soons' and 'you're welcome here any times'.

"Come on girl, lets head to the house and get some rest."

Our walk is brief but once inside, we go straight into my room and collapse on my bed.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Waking up was way too fucking stressful. Fur was in my mouth and in an idiotic attempt to figure out what it was, I opened my eyes the normally soft looking fur rapidly turned into barbed wire and raked across my retinas.

"Shit!" Lurching upright, I furiously rub at my sleep laden eyes and swing my legs over the side. Unfortunate timing. Mikasa was quickly removing herself after my little outburst and my ankles caught her rear legs which tripped her and also threw me off balance.

With the grace of a three legged, newborn elephant, I stumble-fall all the way to my door only to complete the action with actually falling. In my haste, I grabbed the doorknob to steady me but that only swung me around as I twirled like an idiot and finally came to a halt. One hand on the doorknob, one leg twisted under myself, even more blind than I normally am, furry cotton mouth, and a rug burn on my thigh.

I turn to shoot daggers at Mikasa who is standing by my bed and has taken interest in the far wall of my room, ears angled back as she ignores me. With a groan, I let go of the doorknob and (not so) gracefully fall the rest of the way to the floor.

"Why have you forsaken me Kasa?"

No response.

"Eren! Armin is here! Come downstairs!"

_What the actual fuck? It's like.... 7am. Nah, it can't be, I'd never willingly wake up that early. It's gotta be like 9:30am. Why the hell is he here so early?_

Straining my ears, I hear Armin's soft voice floating up the steps followed by my mom's.

With another groan, I finally get up and head into the bathroom. I wash my face, brush my teeth, rinse with scalding hot water as to get the mint taste out of my mouth because I'll soon stuff it with a glazed raspberry filled doughnut, rinse out my eyes and add a couple drops to them, comb my fingers through my bed head and snatch up my glasses that are resting on the shelf above and beside the toilet.

I trot back to my room and slip on a t-shirt along with pajama pants then resume my trek downstairs and am met by Armin sitting at the island snacking on a glazed raspberry jelly filled doughnut.

"Hey Eren! Since school is starting up soon and all, I wanted to know if you wanted to tag along with me today. Going to help in the library but wouldn't mind giving you a tour and letting you meet the teachers."

My eyes were still trained on the glazed raspberry jelly filled doughnut as I wracked my brain to calculate how many I had left in the box. Just as I'm about to speak on it, my mom taps the island counter to gain my attention before pointing to a brand new box of glazed raspberry filled doughnuts. I fucking love glazed raspberry filled doughnuts. Glazed raspberry filled doughnuts. Go ahead, say it out loud, you'll feel better about yourself.

"Glazed raspberry filled doughnuts."

Armin raises and eyebrow. "Come get one, why are you staring at them like that?"

Snapping out of my glazed raspberry filled doughnuts haze, I finally walk forward.

"Sorry, I thought you had eaten the last one and was preparing myself to throw a tantrum," I open the box and grab one out. "What're you doing here so early?"

"Well hello to you too. Also, it's nearly 12:30. I've already been prepping myself for waking up at like 6am. Which ties into my original question, would you like to come?"

"You're crazy, and sure. That actually sounds fun, I heard the school is huge."

"I'm going to ignore that. Go get dressed so we can go."

Grumbling, I grab another glazed raspberry filled doughnut then trudge back upstairs. I change into grey slim-fit jeans with black and white DC's that I've had since middle school and a thin black sweater with a storm trooper helmet on it.

I head back into the bathroom to re-brush my teeth and floss all between my braces before tousling my hair and trotting back downstairs and going into the pantry, rifling around a bit before placing and emergency sweet pack in my back pocket.

"Alright, I'm ready."

Armin pops up and politely thanks my mom for allowing him in and feeding him before we're out the door.

"You'll get to meet a couple of my friends today. I'm the youngest out of the bunch of course but that would just mean you fit right in."

"Don't just include me with your friends. They might not even like me."

Armin looks at me then, I can see him out of the corner of my eye as he studies me. Noticing how I ball and unball my fists, eventually bringing them together to wring out my hands. The furrow in my brow and shifty eyes. Teeth worrying at my bottom lip then eventually a whimper.

"Quit looking at me, you're making me nervous."

"Sorry!" Is Armin's quick response as he turns his head and focuses back on where we're walking.

The walk is silent after that until we walk up to an old stone school with huge, intimidating, red double doors. Armin pushes it open with slight difficulty and we step inside as he just lights up.

"Okay! Let's go to the library first since that's like my second home."

His speed slightly increases as I stick close behind him and glance around. It looks fairly modern inside and people are here and there throughout the school, teachers, staff, and students alike. Some cleaning, organizing, carting around things or decorating. Before I can even direct my attention back to Armin, I'm crashing into his back, causing him to stumble forward before turning sharply to look at me.

"I said 'this is the library coming up'. Where the heck were you going?"

"I got distracted sheesh, show me your books or whatever."

Armin makes a face before walking into the opened doors and I don't even make it all the way in before I'm staring in awe at the room before me.

It's circular with book shelves tall enough to require ladders and towards the rear of the room is a double staircase curving away from each other to lead up to the second floor. The stone in this room have paint on them, murals or just abstract colors that make up a unique pattern. A large and rather impressive chandelier hangs from the ceiling and casts a warm glow on every area of the library. The book shelves that aren't built onto the walls are all curved and in the center of the room are the tables and areas to sit and read or do whatever. There's rocking chairs, couches, benches, generic desks and chairs and everything is set up accordingly. The more laid back furniture in the very center while the others are closer to the walls near the staircase and I assume outlets for laptops and such.

"Wow."

"It's nice huh?"

I jump at the soft and definitely not Armin voice. Turning my head to the right, I'm confused as shit because the girl standing there smiling at me looks exactly like Armin and holy shit that was weird. Thankfully, I think before I speak and don't ask if she's not Armin. "Yeah, hi. Uh, I'm Eren. Hi,"

She giggles as I mentally punch myself for sounding like a damn idiot. "Hello, I'm Christa. Armin was telling me about a new neighbor and bringing him today," She steps from behind the desk and walks over to me with her hand extended. "Welcome."

I give her hand a gentle shake as Armin walks back over and smiles a bit too widely at Christa.

"Are you two related?" _Welp, there goes the speaking before thinking._

Wide, cornflower blue eyes turn to look at me. One pair lined with eyeliner and the other not. Golden hair framing both adorably round faces and pink lips parted to respond but nothing coming out. Christa giggles once again and Armin just flushes before shaking his head stiffly.

"Oh. I mean, I suppose I knew that but wow, Hitler was onto something."

Christa full on laugh-snorts at this and I'm once again punching myself because  _oh my gosh that was horrible but thank the deities that she thinks I'm funny!_

Armin is now red from his neck to the tips of his ears just staring at me with his mouth slightly agape. I offer a small smile just as Christa nudges Armin, still laughing and holding her stomach with one hand. Her laughs eventually cause me to chuckle and I watch as she tries to recollect herself, giggling sporadically all the way through.

"E- Eren, oh my gosh. You're hilarious," She finally stands upright and wipes under her eyes with a large, angelic smile on her face. "Make sure to stop by before you leave." She then waves and heads back to the desk chuckling slightly.

Armin is still red as he watches her walk away before grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the library. "Oh my god you did not just do that. Who makes Hitler jokes??"

Chuckling, I shrug as Armin lets my arm go and rubs his face, pushing his bangs back and looking at me. "She laughed at it so it's okay, stop stressing Ar."

"That's not the p- Ar? Since when do I get a nickname?" He lets his head go as his bangs effortlessly fall back into their previous position and I didn't think I'd ever be jealous of someones hair.

"Do you not like that? It just came out, sorry."

"No. I mean no! Not like that. I don't mind the nickname." He shakes his head slightly and nods his head to the side in a gesture for me to follow as he begins walking again.

I keep up with him as he tours me through the rooms and halls, making sure to explain certain things and how the school works when it starts.

The cafeteria was just as beautiful as the rest of the building. I walk over to one of the many wooden tables and run my fingers over the wood until I hear a shout from the kitchen and Armin just shrugs when I look at him.

"I'm 99% sure it's just Sasha and Connie. More-so Sasha though."

Soon after, a girl with chocolate brown hair falling over her shoulders comes out of a door frowning until she sees Armin.

"Armin!" She prances on over and envelopes the poor boy in a bone crushing bear hug. "I haven't seen you since last year!" She lets him go and just smiles as Armin holds his ribs but still manages to smile back.

"Hey Sasha. It's good to see you too," He straightens up a bit before motioning to me. "This is Eren, he just moved around here. Eren, this is Sasha."

As I'm about to say hello and extend my hand, I too am enveloped in a bear crushing bone hug with my arm uncomfortably stuck between me and this friendly brunette.

"Hi Eren! It's so great to see you!"

"Uh, you too?"

She let's me go and I also hug my ribs, flexing my wrist around a bit as she beams in my face expectantly. One of my eyebrows raise as she just continues to smile, but it quickly turns into a frown and that shocks me more than the hug.

"You don't happen to have any snacks on you, do you?"

Now I'm just utterly confused as I look to Armin for help and he has this impassive look about his face as he looks at Sasha. He's back to a doe-eyed flower when he looks at me and explains,  "She likes food." Then shrugs nonchalantly.

As my eyes drift back to Sasha, I see her nodding slightly but expectantly and I dig around in my back pocket before pulling out a pack of fruit snacks. Before I can utter a word, they're swiped from my hands and Armin just looks at me with a look that says _'you don't even know the extent of what you just started'_

"Thank you Eren! You're the best!!" She makes a grab for me again but I elegantly side step her and shrug.

"It's no problem, I'm not supposed to eat them really."

"Eat what really?"

All three of us turn to the new voice and I'm greeted by a bald kid with a scrunchie band in his hand. He walks over to Sasha and hands her the hair tie then we all watch as she puts the fruit snack pouch in her mouth as she ties her hair up in a ponytail and swishes it around a bit for good measure. Once she's satisfied with it, she tears into the fruit snacks like she hasn't eaten in two days.

The bald kid watches her with his eyebrows up before turning to me. "You fed her? Have you never seen Gremlins?" I'm a bit taken aback by seriousness in his voice but his facade breaks and he chuckles while shaking his head, then extending his hand. "Connie."

I take his hand in my own as I shake it and crack a smile as well. "Eren."

We release each other's hand and Connie stretches before going over to Armin and giving his shoulder a pat. "I'm headed home, it's nap time. See you next week?"

Armin jolts a bit at the sudden contact but smiles and nods as Connie waves to Sasha and I. Soon after, Sasha breaks both mine and Armin's ribs before trotting out after Connie.

After the two are gone, Armin and I explore the school a bit more, ending at the gymnasium. Voices clearly echo in the empty space.

"You shit flinging dick muncher! Why the ever loving fuck did you come this way?!"

"Calm down, jeez. I didn't even track in anything. I finished in the field though, so I'm headed home."

"Good fucking riddance."

Soon, this huge fucking blond rounds the corner of one of the hallways off to the side and smiles. "Hey nerd!"

Armin frowns. "Hi Reiner."

"Who's this??"

The blond, Reiner, towers over me and just grins mischievously. Instinctually, I back up and somewhat ease behind Armin, I answer though. "I'm Eren..."

Reiner crosses his beefy arms over his chest and is about to say something until the other voice we heard earlier is once again yelling.

"The fucking shit?? I told you and your fucking walrus of a best friend that I'm _cleaning the west hall_. Get. Out!"

No one responds and soon a tall ass kid with a nervous air about him shuffles his lanky body quickly from the hall and up behind Reiner. As he gets closer, I notice beads and trails of sweat on his forehead and neck. Reiner just lets out a hearty laugh before moving for the door. "Alright, we'll leave you two alone. C'mon Bert."

The tall guy, whom I'm assuming is Bert, just nods as he follows his "fucking walrus of a best friend" out of the gym- giving curt nods to Armin and I.

It doesn't take a genius to know who's in the side hall and before I know it, my feet have carried me over to the hall and I'm peeking around the bend only to choke on my laughter.

There's Levi, clad in a head bandanna as well as one around his nose and mouth. He's on his hands and knees scrubbing the floor vehemently with a pail beside him and yellow rubber gloves on that extend to his elbows. Armin appears by my side and just grins as he greets, "Hey Levi."

Said person looks up so quickly that I'm afraid he's given himself whiplash. He doesn't answer back right away and instead puts the brush in the pail and grabs a nearby towel to begin drying the floor. Once he's dried the floor for about two minutes, he finally stands and pulls his gloves off, then tugs his mouth covering down. "Coconut,"

I suppose that was a greeting. He begins to clean up and put things away in a nearby custodian closet and once he's done, he closes and locks the door then looks to me. "Brat."

"Excuse me??"

"Brat." He responds again as if I didn't hear him the first time. He whips out his phone and looks at the time before frowning and walking past Armin and I.

Armin doesn't seem fazed in the least but I'm secretly fuming. I must show it on my face because Armin looks to me and frowns.

"Hey, don't take it so personally. Levi is a very... mysterious individual. I respect him a lot though, he speaks his mind."

"He doesn't have to be an ass to speak his mind."

Armin shrugs and begins walking, leaving me no choice but to follow as we head back to the library. Once there, he speaks. "I'm gonna help around here for a bit if that's okay. You can leave if you like, or just hang around here." He waits for my response and I just shrug, he takes it as an 'I'll stay' and smiles at me before going up to the second floor.

Left to my devices, I instantly pout and begin aimlessly roaming the library. After nearly 10 minutes of searching, I find the comic books and manga's only an aisle away from each other and instantly go for the comic books. I grab a bunch and take them all over to a huge green beanbag that has deep blue swirls on it, as I sit, the darn thing swallows me whole and I wiggle around until I feel like a mother hen resting on her precious eggs.

Four and one half books later, I hear Armin calling my name. I shim sham a little bit and peek out of my nest, big green eyes scanning my surroundings before I spot the blond calmly walking past each aisle and peeking down to see if he can spot me.

As I'm about to sit up and tell him where I am, a wild Hanji appears with a shout as she approaches him and I simply close my mouth. With Hanji around, I'm sure I'll have enough time to at least finish my book. So as I turn to get comfy once again, I'm met with Levi picking up my discarded book pile with a horrible scowl on his face. Once he walks away back to the comic section, I let all the air rush out of my lungs because holy shit he was so close and he didn't see me. I almost laugh but then I remember the main character of this manga in my hands just got eaten and _how do you even write something like that?_

Like, two pages away from the end, I put the book down to take a breather and I'm met with huge, curious, sky blue eyes. We make eye contact briefly before we both let out a shout and recoil from one another. Well, I didn't recoil as much as I propelled myself backwards and rolled with the beanbag landing on top of me.

Soon enough though, I'm hearing that laugh-snort again and peek from under the beanbag to see Christa on her butt with a hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter.

"What happened?!"

Christa immediately stops laughing but still has a grin on her face as she looks up to Armin who had ran over when he heard the shout. She replies easily. "Nothing, got spooked by a gnat trying to go for a swim in my eye and dropped the books I was carrying,"

She takes Armin's hand then dusts off her skinny jeans before picking up the books I had scattered. She looks to Armin once they're in her arms and tilts her head. "Where's Eren?"

Armin sighs then shrugs. "Dunno. I'm thinking he possibly went to the bathroom." Armin then throws all his weight into it as he quite literally hops onto the beanbag I'm currently under and Christa just looses her shit as she begins to snicker.

Quite honestly, my lungs and mind can't handle the confinement and I begin to wiggle before shouting. "Armin, move your ass!"

The weight is immediately taken off of my back as I leap up, tossing the beanbag aside and unfortunately tossing it in Armin's direction. Christa is back on the ground now in hysterics as I look around briefly for my blond comrade who pops back up from behind the beanbag.

"Eren!" He isn't phased in the least. "I thought you had gotten lost in the school somewhere. Are you ready to go?"

I don't even hear him because I'm focused on the fact that my glasses are no longer on my face. Armin seems to understand why I'm silently panicking and begins to help me look around for them.

As I turn though, there's a blurry figure which I'm sure is Levi, but he pauses and just stares at me.

After about ten seconds of staring, I frown and he seems to snap out of whatever daze he was in as he extends his arm and I can vaguely make out my glasses hanging off of the tip on his index finger.

"Oh, thanks!" I smile as I take them and situate them back on my face. As I look at Levi though, my smile fades because he's still staring at me and eventually a smirk finds it's way on his lips.

"No problem brat."

"Eren!!" I'm sneak attacked by Hanji who hugs me from the side. As my face is pressed into her chest, I can't help but notice how masculine she smelled. It was nice and I began to melt into her embrace until Levi pried her away from me with a scowl.

"Goddamnit, you will not be dragging fleas into my car shitty glasses."

Frowning, I look at Levi. "Glasses aren't shitty."

"Oh, but you're fine with having fleas?"

"What?"

Levi snorts and rolls his eyes before they drifted over to Hanji, Armin, and Christa who still had my books in her hands. While he's watching them, I take the time to just examine him. It seems as though the only colors he wears are black and grey, maybe white. Boots, the previous times I've seen him, he wore combat boots and it seems he has different versions of them. His pants were tight fitting, not skinny but they held his ass well. 

_I was not just looking at Levi's ass._

With warming cheeks, I continue my ascent to his shirt and unsurprisingly, it's dark grey. It goes well with his belt though so I have no qualms with it, it also holds his body well and I notice now that his arms are exposed. "Damn.."

I freeze, like literally fucking freeze. All the color drains from my face as goosebumps rise on every surface available of my skin.  _I did_ not  _just fucking say that out loud!_

With the last tethers of my courage, I flick my eyes up expecting to be met with a disgust filled glare but surprisingly, Levi has now taken an interest in his phone.

I slowly let out a shaky breath as a manic grin appears on my face. I'm about to walk away when..

"Done checking me out?"

I whirl around so fast I trip over my own feet as I stumble away from him and he's still looking down at his phone, thumb scrolling through some form of social media. He raises an eyebrow then looks over at me and the molten aluminum cuts through me.

_He looks pissed, maybe he's disgusted... Fuck he heard me! Run... Turn around Eren and walk away!!_

Finally listening to myself, I abruptly turn and briskly walk away, only to begin running once I hear a confused Armin call my name.

I'm not the most in shape person, so by the time I exit the building I'm already panting. _Damn you glazed raspberry filled doughnuts!!_

With no idea how to get back to the house, I simply round the school and finally stop running once I get around to the back of it. I sit on the ground and lean against the rough stone catching my breath.

Nope. This definitely cannot be home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the process of moving and writing another fanfic. So sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy! ^_^

"Eren?!"

I hear Armin calling my name. He must've followed me out, but I think I'll just wait until he finds me since I'm technically not hiding.

_Damnit Eren. What the hell was that? Oogling over Levi. Wait, I'm gay?_

I mull over that for a bit, unsure of how I feel about it. I've never really considered my sexuality because I've never been sexually attracted to anyone. I was always the "rich dork who sits alone" so I can't say that I had many friends growing up to even test the waters.

I'm more so shocked that I'm not shocked. I mean, nothing is in concrete of course, this is just the first time I've ever actually looked at someone other than platonically.

_Well this is a new development. How would mom take this news? I doubt she'd really care, but what if she's a wee bit disappointed? What if I'm not even gay? There's an in between, I could_ _be bisexual. Or straight. I could be having an early life crisis for no reason. I probably just freaked out for no fucking reason. Wow, you really are a dork Eren..._

"I know, thanks."

Armin's footfalls are slower but they're definitely getting closer, so to save him the rest of the trip, I stand up and walk around the corner.

"Eren!" He sprints up to me with wide, cloudless sky eyes full of worry and concern. "What happened? What did Levi do? Are you okay?"

Offering a smile, I shrug. "I spooked myself is all. Levi caught me staring at h- his phone..."

"Well what did he say then?" Armin's tone had changed and surprised me a bit. As if Levi insulted my mother and Armin was going to hand Levi's ass to him for it.

"Nothing Armin, he basically let it be known that he saw me staring even though I thought I was being sneaky."

Armin deflated with a long exhale as he looked down, only to look up with a small smile on his face. "You scared us."

"Us?"

"Hanji, Christa and I. Hanji instantly rounded on Levi but he didn't say anything, he just left with this smug smile on his face, so I thought he said something to hurt you."

A tingle shivered up my spine at the thought that Levi was smug smiling at me checking him out. _Overthinking again, I'm overthinking._

"Nah, he's fine... I mean okay! As in, he's innocent, he didn't do anything to me." Nervously pushing my glasses up my nose, I cast my eyes downwards and frown. "He left though?"

"Yeah. Well no, he just left the library."

"Okay, uh, can I say bye to Christa and Hanji? Then can we go?"

"Of course, come on."

With literally five steps and an opened door, we're back into the library. We emerge from a slightly hidden door behind the left staircase and walk towards the two girls. Christa has a fearful look on her face and is literally cowering behind a bookcase until she sees Armin and runs like hell, nearly tackling him down as she swings around to hide behind us both. Hanji looks over as her hand is palm up, twisting slowly and she grins at us.

"She has a  _spider_ in her hand!" Christa all but screeches that directly in Armin and I's ear.

"It's only a wolf spider." Is Hanji's nonchalant response.

With a smile, I walk over towards Hanji to peer at her hand. There is indeed a spider now resting on the back of her hand with it's fangs moving slightly. "It's lighter than any wolf spider I've ever seen."

"Fresh molt, it's all squishy too. Wanna hold her?!" The arachnid is suddenly thrust into my face and while I enjoy creepy crawlies, I do _not_  enjoy creepy crawlies moving at 27 mph towards my face. So, with a super manly yelp (Armin later informs me that it was rather feminine) I leap back and flail, knocking the spider out of her hand and suddenly it's airborne. Christa screams loud enough to shatter to shatter glass as she runs away and Armin simply takes a few steps back. Where the spider went? Nobody knows, and Hanji is heartbroken.

"Why? Why would you smack it Eren?"

"I was scared! I'm sorry." I stand and watch Hanji search around for her lost friend, scouting the floor and nearby table tops. After searching for a second time, she sighs and scratches the side of her head, pulling a dread loose from the ponytail but simply tucking it behind her ear.

"Uh, Eren.." Two pairs of eyes turn toward Armin as he speaks. "We should get going."

"Oh yeah, right." Midway through turning to say bye to Hanji, I'm once again crushed in a hug as she rubs her face in my hair. "Erm... bye, Hanji." She simply squeezes me tight and gives me a little shake which I'm oddly not opposed to.

"I'm sure I'll see you for ice cream soon enough." Her face nuzzles into my hair again before she releases me then turns to Armin, only to see he isn't there. I watched him make his escape over Hanji's shoulder, motioning for me to follow when I'm done with my goodbye. "Little muchkin snuck out on me again." She pouts, yet doesn't seem fazed as she turns to me with an excited grin. "That means you get to have his goodbye!" She lunges for me and I quickly leap back, tripping over myself in the process and landing on my ass. Hanji just cackles before offering a hand and hoisting me up.

"Yeah, no. He'll just need a twice as intense hello the next time you see him." Her eyes brighten at this as though she hasn't thought about it before and I give a wave as I exit the library and am gently pulled into a hug by the waist.

"Bye Eren, I suppose I'll see you in a couple days or so."

I hesitantly wrap my arms around Chista and give her a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, see you then."

She lets me go and peeks into the library, obviously still skeptical about Hanji and her eight legged pals. I turn and head down the hallway, then out the front door to see Armin waiting on his phone before turning to look at me as the door closes with a heavy thud.

"Did she give you my goodbye?"

"Nah, you're gonna get your goodbye and hello in the same package."

Armin seems to pale at this and accept his fate at the same time as we begin walking. It's a relatively quiet walk with Armin pointing out landmarks and briefly explaining there's really no way to get lost unless you cross major traffic which no one really does since we have everything we need in close by. As we turn onto our street, I see Mikasa sitting out in the yard as my mom is raking leaves. They're still a ways down but I duck behind any foliage I can so Mikasa doesn't spot me.

"What on earth are you doing? Are you hiding from your mom?"

"No, I'm hiding from Kasa. Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits but she's so sticky."

"Sticky?"

"As in, clingy. I feel like she thinks she needs to be by my side all the time and she never really gets to have fun because she's always watching me."

"Eren, she's a dog. You are her fun."

I peek from behind a relatively dead bush a couple steps away from Armin's house to see Mikasa looking our way. She seems to have spotted Armin but she doesn't move other than that. "Armin hide!"

"No." This asshole then cups his mouth and shouts. "Here girl!! Come here Kasa!!"

The fucking disobedient mutt gets up and begins walking down the street, albeit cautiously. My mom doesn't even stop her! I sprint to Armins house and twist the knob to find it locked before running around back, I don't get far though as Jean lunges at me, scaring me half to death as I squeak and for the second time today, trip over myself, falling on my ass. Jean is yanked back by a tie out and also lands quite ungracefully before he's back on his paws and eyeing me down, nose slightly raised as he starts growling.

"I really don't fucking like you." As if in response, his lips curl back.

Armin pokes his head out of his back door and looks down towards me. "I thought you somehow got inside." He opens the door wider and Mikasa trots out, giving Jean a passing glance before noticing me and trotting over, sitting in front of me as her tail wags, making a _swishy swishy_ noise in the grass. All I can do is smile and I raise a hand to rub between her ears.

"Hey Kasa." I say before pulling her in for a hug and rubbing the shiny silky fur along her back. Our moment is ruined as Jean literally blindly throws himself at us, knocking Mikasa out of my arms and throwing me back on the ground, loosing my glasses in the process.

"Jean!! No!" It's fruitless as Jean does his frantic and spastic freedom run. Mikasa is beside again in an instant, hackles raised as she watches Jean fly back and forth across his yard with Armin chasing him to get him under control.

I sit back up and rub my head before opening my eyes to the blurry scene.

_Fuck it all, where are they?_

I begin my Velma patting of the ground to search for them, sweeping my hand back and forth with no results. It also doesn't help that my fucking glasses are forest green and the grass in their yard is about three or four inches tall. Armin finally settles Jean down as he begins to lap up copious amounts of water then comes over to me for possibly and apology but pauses.

"Did you lose your glasses?" When he sees me nod, he begins walking around cautiously to help me look. After maybe three minutes, I hear him make a disapproving sound. "I don't see them."

"They're green."

"I know that, but I don't see them. They flew off right?"

I begin to nod, but pause before shrugging and standing up. When I turn to him, I can barely make out the opening of his mouth as he stares at me. "What?"

He doesn't answer as he steps closer to me, his face becoming a bit clearer as I make out the blue of his eyes. He still doesn't speak and instead stares into my fucking soul which is getting a bit uncomfortable. His mouth finally closes as he licks his lips before actually saying words. "Your eyes are beautiful."

He breathes it in such an innocent way, yet it also sounds a bit intimate. Either way, I feel my cheeks flare up at the random ass compliment and it doesn't help at our proximity. I take a step back before casting my eyes downward, too flustered to speak and he meeps before also backing away and raising his hands, waving them wildly in front of himself.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!"

I shrug, still looking down and run my tongue over my braces roughly, hoping the abrasive action takes my mind off my cheeks which are set aflame. "It's alright. It was just..."

"Weird?" He finishes, curling in on himself as I glance up to him.

"No! Unexpected. You're not weird, you're honest if anything." I send a smile to which he begins staring at me again so I cover my eyes and groan. "Armin, stooooop it. I'm _blind_  I need your obviously perfect vision to help find my glasses."

Another meep and more flailing before he abruptly stops. "You're blind?"

"What? No, I've just got shitty ass sight. Glasses don't cure blindness Armin."

"Oh... you're right. Duh." He then finally casts his eyes downward again before walking around in circles. It isn't until we hear a crunching that we both whip around. All I see is a blurry blob of tan against green but Armin gasps quite loudly before rushing said blob and grabbing his collar, giving him a vigorous shake. "Spit them out!!"

It's a tussle with growling from both of them before Armin finally gets what I dreadfully assume are the remnants of my glasses and he just stands in one spot staring at them. There's silence and I realize he's probably afraid of the consequences so I walk over to him and slowly lay my hand on his shoulder. I miss and it lands more so on his chest but I don't move until he looks at me.

"It's alright. They're insured. I can have a new pair in a couple days."

"But how will you see?"

"Mikasa."

"She's a seeing eye dog?"

"Technically. She's got four certifications in ranging assisted help, seeing eye dog being one of them."

"Why would you have her take that class?"

"Because..." I remove my hand from him and thread it through the back of my hair, tugging it gently.

"I mean, you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable."

This is about where I notice Armin Arlert is going to be my best friend. "Well, I _was_  blind when I was younger."  I feel that's vague enough.

"Oh.." I'm soon enveloped by the blond and all I can do is smile as I hug him back. "I'm glad you can see now then."

"Yeah, me too." I chuckle as we separate from the embrace.

"I really am sorry about your glasses though, they seemed well loved."

"It's alright, I've reached a new chapter in my life, some things just need to be renewed. Besides, I have back up contacts anyway."

"But, video games."

I laugh and shrug. "Tomorrow. I've got to call in to have new glasses shipped anyway."

"I guess..."

"Are you pouting? It sounds like you're pouting. Don't pout."

"Hmm!" It was a defiant sound that let me know that Armin was indeed pouting.

Shaking my head, I smile at him before looking down to see Mikasa obediently sitting only about a foot away. "I'll text you when I get inside." I offer as he brightens up and nods.

"Alright, I'll walk you to the curb." He begins walking and as I take a step, Mikasa brushes against my right leg and walks closer than she normally would. Without her handle barred harness, it's a bit harder to trust her judgement but I trust it all the same and just prepare myself to accept it if I trip. Armin is at my other side as he walks me to the sidewalk, stopping at the end of his property. "I'm going to wait for that text message."

"You'll get it." I reassure as I begin walking down the street, slowly but surely. Mikasa is glued to my side and I think how she knows the difference between me not wearing my glasses and wearing them. I make it to the house trip free and unlock the front door, stepping inside and closing it behind Mikasa.

"Ma! Armin's dumb dog chewed up my glasses."

She rounds the corner in a snuggie... a fucking snuggie. I just stare at her as I scrunch my nose up. She puts her hands on her hips and glares at me, knowing I'm silently judging her.

"So what's this about your glasses?"

"Why the ze-"

"-Glasses?!" She interrupts firmly, telling me to drop her wardrobe choice.

I huff a laugh but accept defeat. "Armin's lanky weird dog somehow got my glasses and chewed them up."

Her face softens as she approaches me. "Aw Eren. I'm sorry, I know you've had those for years." She embraces me and I return it as I sink into her slightly.

"Yeah, but... I told Armin that I'm starting a new chapter and sometimes things need to be renewed along with it."

"Aw, look at you growing up! You're still a mama's boy though." She kisses my head and I nod in confirmation.

"Always will be." As I pull away from her, I look to her snuggie and she growls, actually _growls_ at me which makes me laugh as I walk by her to go upstairs, Mikasa still at my side.

As I get upstairs, I fumble around until I find the bathroom and Mikasa waits by the door. I open the mirror and shut it again when I have my lens case in my hand.

"Ugh, I fucking hate contacts oh my goooooosh." I open the right eye cap and peer in at the lens, a dull dark green color. They were originally clear, but everyone would yell and shout that I wore contacts to try and be attractive if ever I didn't wear my glasses, so I requested colored ones. I have brown ones as well but they feel odd and always seem to float around on my cornea. I frown and set the case down as I thoroughly wash my hands, scrubbing them three times over just to make sure because it is a _bitch_ if anything ever gets under your contact, oh my fuck.

Once I deem my hands clean enough, I wash them again and pick up my lens, gently rubbing it and cleaning it with solution before pulling the skin underneath my eye down with my left hand and looking up. The trick I've developed it to not look directly at it like I use to. I bring my index finger- with contact poised on the tip -towards my eye as I use my thumb and other fingers to steady my index one. I place it against the underside of my eyeball and flinch away, reflexively shutting my eye and hissing out a curse. I try again with the same results then decide to try my left eye.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Language Eren!!" I hear my mom shout from downstairs.

I go back to my right eye and place the contact against my eye with fluttering lids and it adheres. I give an experimental blink and it begins to slowly slide in place. A few more blinks and my right eye is back in full commission. I look around a bit then at the mirror and see the stark differences of my eyes.

The right is now a gloomy, dull, solid color; yet my left is bright. Blues and greens swirling and colliding together as the two colors try to find a medium, even though every time I turn my head and the light catches a different angle, the two colors fight for dominance once more.

Feeling pretty confident, I try again for my left eye and huzzah! Both eyes are back in commission as my sight is restored. I thoroughly clean my lenses case before filling both areas with solution and closing them, placing them back behind the mirror. Smiling, I pull out my phone and shoot Armin a text.

 **To Armin:** Hey! Just got finished putting my contacts in

 **From Armin:** If you didn't have Mikasa with you, I would have assumed you either walked pass your house or got mugged. Seriously though, you left 37 minutes ago, how long does it take to put in contacts?

 **To Armin:** I h8 them so much you dont understand the fear and pain

I walk to my room and plop onto my bed. It's about ten minutes until Armin responds and breaks my concentration playing Piano Tiles. With a defeated sigh, I open the messaging app and frown at what I read.

 **From Armin:** I wouldn't know. I have a confession to make though, I feel guilty for not telling or asking your permission.

When I don't get a message directly after that, I scowl.

 **To Armin:** Okay?

As Armin's message comes in, so does another. I exit the conversation and see an unknown number beneath Armin's. I open the text and just smile, laughing a bit.

 **From Unknown:** EREN I HAVE YOUR NUMBER AND NOW I WILL SEND YOU PICTURES OF MY ANIMALS AND PLANTS BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT

I exit that and go back to Armin's text.

 **From Armin:** I shared your number with Hanji and Christa because they asked me how you were, so I wasn't thinking and told them to ask you themselves. I'm sorry!

 **To Armin:** Its ok dude, theyre cool people

My phone buzzes about four times and I exit Armin's conversation to see another unknown number and three messages from the first unknown one. I open the new one first.

 **From Unknown:** Hi Aaron. It's Christa from the library, just checking in on you to see how you're doing  <3

 **To Potential Crush:** Hey Christa. Im fine thx and its spelled Eren. Common mistake so dont feel bad.

I exit that message and go to the unknown one and am greeted by a photo of a rather large snake in a rather large enclosure, followed by a photo of a rather large spider on Hanji's shoulder that looks like it could reach all edges of a dinner plate. I am then calmed as I look at a pretty bush which seems to be sitting in her living room, it's in a decorated pot and it seems to be at least three feet tall with stalks and branches that spread out evenly, she also sends a winky face right after that.

 **To Ganji Hanji:** How are u not arrested???

 **From Ganji Hanji:** Stealth my friend.

I roll my eyes and chuckle as I text my three new friends, after I tell them I have to go, I stretch and see it's nearly 11. I hop up and trot downstairs to see my mom asleep in her ugly zebra snuggie, snickering, I snap a picture before going over and kissing her head before leaving out of the house, Mikasa at my side.

"This is the warmest night in two weeks Kasa, I heard they have a park by a river." I of course don't get a response as we walk and I remember Armin telling me you can't get lost. So we just walk, out of our neighborhood and down the streets until I see a large sign stating "Maria Park." Mikasa and I walk in to the map and I see this place is huge! They've even got a petting zoo!! I read the map thoroughly to try and locate the river when Mikasa whips around growling, which is responded to by a louder, deeper growl. I turn at the sound and pale.

"Hush Annie." She obeys as grey eyes, which look silver from the overheard lighting, bore into mine. "Walk with me kid." Levi walks by me, Annie at his side and I stare after him. He doesn't turn to see if I follow, but I do anyway. Why? I've no fucking idea, I just hope I don't regret it.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel as though I'm loosing my original blue-print for this fic, so I'm gonna just write it as it comes to me.  
> Hoping it's good enough to keep your interests though ^_^

I regret it.

I follow behind him as he easily maps his way through the park, Mikasa at my side per usual and seemingly uneasy as well if her ever-moving ears are anything to go by. He stops suddenly and looks to his left, then his right, before choosing left and casually strolling down that path. That's what makes me speak up.

"Why not right?"

I don't get an answer and frown, now a bit more scared than before. _It's damn near midnight and I'm following the scariest person I know into unknown territory so he can murder me and dispose of my body with ease. Did my mother never teach me stranger danger?_

Knowing I'd possibly get myself all turned around, I reluctantly jog to catch up to the mysterious and quiet senior.

Soon, the path opens up to a playground in a sandbox. There are swings, slides, monkey bars, seesaws, hamster wheels, merry-go-rounds, even a rock climbing wall. My (not so inner) child comes out as I run past Levi, hearing Annie growl at my sudden movements but far too excited as I leap into the hamster wheel and begin to walk. I build up the speed into a jog and curse the delicious glazed raspberry filled doughnuts once again for my lack of stamina.

In my attempt to get off, I turn the opposite way to kind of counter the speed of the wheel and end up tripping. Everything spins as I tumble and flail to try and get my equilibrium back to steady. The wheel abruptly stops as I'm on my back, legs up on the center and groan as I hear a voice above me.

"Christ kid, what the hell are you doing?"

I look up to see a silhouette before rolling and sitting with my legs crossed. "We don't have hamster wheels where I use to live."

Levi lets go of the edge of the wheel, flexing his hand as he frowns. "Well let's start out slower next time, yeah?"

"Sure? Why'd you drag me out here?"

"You followed."

"You told me to."

"Oh? Obedient, are we?" He sends me a smirk that makes me remember that I was suppose to be avoiding him.

I stand and step off the wheel, backing away. I don't answer his question because I honestly don't have an excuse as to why I followed him. Before I can try to leave though, I hear him sigh.

"Kid, I just wanted to talk." I don't stop my movements and he frowns. "Hey, brat, I'm talking to you." He reaches out and grabs my wrist which was possibly the worst mistake he could make. Mikasa, seemingly out of nowhere lunges with a snarl that brings up bad memories. As she leaps through the air, her teeth bare centimeters away from Levi's wrist, Annie knocks into her shoulder, sending Mikasa sprawling as Annie bows her head and bares her teeth. Ice blue eyes ablaze in the dim lighting of the park as Mikasa is quick to get back to her paws, dark eyes locked on the other dog as her white teeth stand out against her black fur.

Once I realize Mikasa isn't hurt, I wrench my arm free and walk the short distance to her as Levi does the same and crouches by her. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?!" I yank Mikasa close to me as I wrap her in my arms and glare at Levi as Mikasa's attention is still on Annie; whom is still in a stance to attack if given the command.

Thankfully, Levi turns to her and tells her to "chill the fuck out" which makes her sit and what's left of her ears flatten against her head. He turns back to Mikasa and I while extending his hand towards her, palm up and a frown on his face. "I'm sorry."

Mikasa looks to him, and I can feel her muscles tense beneath her fur but she allows Levi's slow moving hand to rub against her cheek then eventually over her ear. Her muscles relax a bit as she's pet and Levi looks up at me, frown still in place. His mouth opens but I cut him off.

"It's okay... I, I'm sorry as well." He seems to relax at this before he stands up.

"I feel as though we got off on the wrong foot and shitty glasses won't let me hear the end of it." He looks me over briefly before tilting his head slightly. "Where are your glasses?"

I push myself to stand up, rubbing Mikasa's head on the way before looking at Levi. "Armin's dog chewed them up."

"And you can see?"

"Yeah. Contacts."

He stares at me a bit, well no, he stares into my eyes. It's not how Armin did, it's more so searching and questioning, as though there should be something there but it's not. He eventually ceases his quest and clears his throat before nodding his head in a gesture for me to follow. He walks over to the swings and sits on one as I take up the one beside him.

"So, what are you doing out so late?"

"Not tired, wanted to explore a bit. What about you?"

"I always come out here."

"With Annie?" I glance to where she was once sitting only to see her gone. My eyes scan the park but I see no trace of the Pit Bull.

"Yeah, she goes off on her own. Normally to go fuck with raccoons or something."

"I wish Kasa did that." We both look down at Mikasa who has taken to sitting between us. "She never leaves my side. I want her to be a dog sometimes."

"As in roll around in deer shit?"

"Sure, if that's what dogs do."

Levi's lip curls in disgust for a moment before looking ahead and falling silent. We sit like that for a while before I look at him to find him already looking at me, shamelessly staring and not faltering as our eyes connect. "Why'd you run out of the library?"

My cheeks were already heating up from the blatant staring, so when he asked the question, I seized up. He simply waits, grey eyes never leaving mine and I look away before attempting to stammer out a reply. "Uh, well. You, no. I was only-"

"Take a breath kid, jeez. Relax."

I take his advice and frown as I try to collect my thoughts, breathing through my nose. "I didn't run out of the library."

The silence drags on until it's uncomfortable before he responds with "You literally ran out after Coconut called you."

"His name is Armin."

"And I call him Coconut. Don't try to derail my initial question, why'd you run?"

I feel as though I'm going to explode. "Because..."  _J_ _ust say it, he'll probably leave you alone afterwards._ "Because, you caught me." 

"I caught you?"

Oh now he's just being an asshole. I raise my eyes to look at him before frowning. "You know why I ran out!"

The corner of his mouth quirks up before he smiles and shrugs. Rewind a bit because holy shit his smile, no matter how small it was, was fucking something to be remembered. "I figured you ran because you were embarrassed."

No point in denying it now. "Exactly!"

He seems a bit taken aback by my honesty as an eyebrow goes up. "Well then what were you embarrassed about?"

At this, my frown deepens and I look down. I toe at the sand beneath my feet before gently pushing off and swaying back and forth. "Becauseyoucaughtmecheckingyouout."

It was a mumble, all said in one breath and Levi is quiet as he, I assume, tries to decipher what I just said. I can feel his eyes watching me as I swing and at this point I rather go home, I'm suddenly exhausted.

It's a while before Levi speaks again, and it's on a totally different topic. "Are your contacts colored?"

"No."

"Damn, that was a lie. I thought your eyes were blue."

"They are, and they aren't. It depends on your perspective I guess."

"Hm... I saw them when you lost your glasses in the library, and they looked blue."

"Then they're blue."

He looks over at me once again and is about to speak when loud, obnoxious quacking suddenly fills the silence. Mikasa bolts upright between us before staring at Levi, ears perched high on her head as I stare at him as well. He simply takes his phone out of his pocket and jumps off the swing to walk away and I assume answer a call.

I wait until he's a safe distance away before I start laughing quietly into my hand with my head turned. My lungs begin to burn as my cheekbones cramp before I take in a large breath and attempt to clam myself down before allowing myself to laugh out loud. It of course draws the attention of Levi as he looks over, phone pressed to his ear and eyebrow raised which causes me to close my mouth and continue to giggle.

"Kasa.." She was already looking me, possibly wondering the same thing Levi is. "Did you see how he had to leap down? I didn't even notice his feet weren't touching the ground." I laugh again and wipe at my eyes with the back of my hand. "He's so small and it's so cute." I breathe again and try to straighten up as Levi walks back over, glaring at me as though he knew I was laughing at him before holding his phone out to me.

I peer at the screen before smiling and taking it, pressing it against my ear. "Hi Hanji."

"Eren! Is Levi harassing you?!"

"What? No, we're at the park. The playground."

There was a pause before she lowered her voice. "Are you two smooching?"

Unfortunately, my virgin self sputters and blushes at the mere concept of kissing. "N- no! No, why wou- why would you ask that?!"

"Levi tends to smooch people who wear glasses."

"So you two smooch?"

Levi's brow furrows at this. "What?" He makes a grab for the phone but I dodge him as I begin to laugh at Hanji's response. "What is she saying?" He tries again, but a low rumbling growl from Mikasa makes him stop as he frowns down at her.

I continue to laugh as Hanji carries on, much to Levi's chagrin. She eventually tells me goodnight and hangs up, only then do I hand Levi's phone back to him. He glares at me as though I'd tell him what the conversation was about but I simply smile, braces and all, which he takes the time to examine before I close my mouth self-consciously.

"Where do you live kid?"

"On Shiganshina  drive, near Armin."

"What the hell, and you walked all the way here?"

"Yes. Is that bad?"

"I just think it's never _good_ to be out past curfew." He sends me a smirk before bringing two fingers to his mouth and turning away from me, whistling loudly which has Mikasa up on her paws and staring at Levi with her head tilted comically to the side. "Come on kid, let's get you home."

"I can walk home alone."

"Congratulations, now come on." He begins walking and I frown as I get up and follow after him.

Honestly, I feel safer with the black-haired male by my side anyway. I know it's gotta be past midnight and I'm so new to the neighborhood that I don't even know if crime around here is bad. As we make our way out of Maria Park, we turn left and continue to walk in silence until I get bored.

"So, do you and Hanji date?"

"The fuck? No. We never have."

"Why not?"

"None of your business k-"

"Eren."

He glances at me before looking ahead again, mumbling something about a brat. We continue on and soon enough I look around before frowning. "Where's Annie?"

"I dunno. Home maybe."

"Are you not concerned?"

"No. She's been living here for damn near 7 years now, I'm sure she knows her way around and that cars could kill her."

"Oh..."

We walk in silence with me stealing glances at Levi, he gives no indication that he sees me this time around so I openly stare, taking in his side profile. I don't feel Mikasa pushing hard against my leg until Levi shoots an arm out, grabbing me by the bicep and yanking me close as I narrowly miss a street lamp.

"Why are you so enthralled by me?"

It was quiet, but not quiet enough for him to be speaking to himself, and there goes my fucking cheeks again. "I- I don't know. You're, interesting."

He glances over at me, releasing my arm and I really wish he hadn't. He also stops walking, which causes me to stop a few paces ahead before noticing and turning around to look at him questioningly.

With an arched brow, an amused smirk makes it's way onto his face. "We're on your street, I don't know where you live. Gonna drop you off here though so I can get back to my house, I've got work in the m-"

"I don't live too far from here! Why not just walk me the rest of the way?"

"Because you "can walk home alone" apparently."

"Please?"

He frowns at this, scrutinizing me before letting out an annoyed "Tch. Lead the way kid."

I frown at this, scrutinizing him before letting out an annoyed "My name is Eren."

He ignores me in favor of walking past me, eyes ahead as he glances at each passing house, no doubt trying to get rid of me as quickly as possible. I jog a bit to catch up as we pass Armin's house, all it's lights off. We continue walking until Mikasa picks up the pace a bit and trots a house down, then to the front door. Levi stops on the sidewalk, looking at my house for a little before looking to me, face impassive as ever.

"Night kid."

"Goodnight. Uh, thanks for walking me home."

"I was forced."

"You could have declined."

"But you said please.."

"Does that mean I can get a free pass whenever I say it?"

"Don't test your luck." He turns to walk off and my mouth opens to stop him, but no words come out. He stops anyway and turns to look at me before sighing and grabbing my wrist, dragging me to my front door. "Unlock it."

I still have no idea why, but I find it hard to disobey him. Like everything he says is a direct order that, if not followed, will result in a punishment of sorts. I dig in my pocket to pull out the singular key before pushing it into the lock, giving it a twist, then opening the door.

"Now go inside, and go to sleep."

I close my eyes tightly before looking at him and rushing out. "Can I have your number??"

Levi looks dumbfounded at my question, staring at me as if I lost my marbles. "Why?" He pauses a bit, expecting a response. He he doesn't receive one, he tilts his head. "Is it because I'm in your romantic interest?"

I'm more or less sure that was a joke judging by the teasing lilt in his voice but it was painfully close to the truth. He watched with calculating eyes as the blush spread from my cheeks, down my neck, and up my ears. After regretting even following him into the park, a dangerously mischievous smirk settles on his face before he's reaching out and grabbing the front of my shirt. Little force is needed to pull me down to his height before his lips ghost over the shell of my ear.

"You're cute, Eren. But I don't think you're too sure about the decisions you make." He releases my shirt, and gently pushes me to standing upright again. At the sight of my, I'm certain, beet red face, he let's out a small chuckle before turning around. "Night kid."

I watch as he cuts through the lawn and disappears behind the shrubbery, eventually into the darkness. I turn and finally enter the house, closing the door. I walk past Mikasa holding her water bowl and go upstairs to my room where I undress, attempting to ignore the tingling sensation in my ear and the tingling sensation in my gut. After I strip to my boxers, I get in bed and rub at my earlobe before groaning and hiding my head under the covers.

"Oh my gosh I'm gay."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is much appreciated! I'd love to improve in any way possible.  
> Any sort of feedback is welcome really. Hope you enjoyed!


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